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"Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light." Ephesians 5:14

We're planting a new church in Natchitoches, LA - Awaken Church. In case you've missed previous posts that share the initial vision God has given us & the thoughts on strategy to get there, you can catch up in Parts 1-5 by clicking here:Part ONEPart TWOPart THREEPart FOURPart FIVE

The truth is, in order for us to see God's vision for Awaken Church become reality, we need a team and we're praying that YOU will pray about what it might look like to be a part of this team. Our hope is that Y…

The vision God has given us for Awaken Church in Natchitoches, LA, is for awakening people to a life-changing relationship with Jesus, and equipping them to awaken others.

The snapshot we're beginning with is that Awaken Church will intentionally be a...
MISSIONAL church
MULTIPLYING churchMULTICULTURAL church

Why is being a multicultural church so important to us?

A part of this vision God is giving us is that this new church plant will reflect the beautiful reality of the Kingdom of God. In the Temple in Jerusalem, Jesus said that it was to "be a house of prayer for all nations." (Mark 11:17) We've found, lost in the translation, that "all nations" is more clearly understood as "all people groups." Awaken Church will be a house of prayer for all people groups, reflecting the beauty of the Kingdom of God.

Also, this vision is that this new church plant will reflect the community, and its richness of diversity.…

As my family is in the process of finalizing (prayerfully) the details to make the move to Natchitoches, LA, to give birth to a new church plant - Awaken Church - we're keeping God's vision for us in the forefront of everything we do: awakening people to a life-changing relationship with Jesus, and equipping them to awaken others.

The vision God is showing is for Awaken Church to intentionally be a...
MISSIONAL churchMULTIPLYING church
MULTICULTURAL church

What exactly does it mean to be a Multiplying church?

"Church Multiplication" seems to sound like something new to the "growth by addition" mindset ingrained in today's church culture. However, this is actually how the church of God grew in the New Testament narrative. Yes, "each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved (Acts 2:47)," but when we look at how the Lord added people to the fellowship of believers, it was through disciples makin…

This is part 3 of my "We're planting a church..." series.
You can read PART ONE by clicking HERE.
And you can read PART TWO by clicking HERE.

As we prepare to plant, or birth, Awaken Church in Natchitoches, LA, our vision is for awakening people to a life-changing relationship with Jesus, and equipping them to awaken others.

In order to see this become reality, we're beginning with what we're calling our 3-M Strategy. As mentioned in Part Two of this series of blog entries, these 3-Ms are that Awaken church will be intentional about being a...MISSIONAL church
MULTIPLYING church
MULTICULTURAL church

What is Missional?

Well, it's pretty much been a buzz word in the contemporary Christian church for the past few years. To the point that it almost feels like a cliche thing to say, like "oh missional is the latest fad, so let's do that."

But then I've never been one to wonder or care if something was a fad or not. Missional is basically being…

"...and take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." -Ephesians 6:17b

The letter in the Bible, called Ephesians, ends with a charge to the reader to "put on the full armor of God." The goal is to stand firm in the calling to serve God and follow Jesus, and describes what this "spiritual armor" looks like: the belt of truth, the body armor (breastplate) of righteousness, shoes of peace that comes from the Good News (the message of Jesus), the shield of faith, and the helmet of salvation. Every piece of this armor is essential, but notice what comes last - "and take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."

Why is it listed last? Certainly, it's not least important. It's simply a matter of reality: a warrior/soldier/knight would get fully dressed, and then pick up the sword. Taking up the sword was symbolic that, "OK, now I have put on every piece of armor so I will be able to resist the enemy. Now, I…

I feel the most fully alive when I'm experiencing something new. And teaching others. And teaching others so that something new is awakened in them. Life is meant to be lived. People are meant to be loved.
Jesus is the Subject.